CenturyLink Appoints Former Dell EMC, Level 3 Execs To Head Up Marketing, Product Management

#Telecom giant @CenturyLink Tuesday said it is bringing on two new executives following the close of its $34 billion Level 3 Communications takeover at the end of 2017. @Gaurav Chand, the former global senior vice president, marketing infrastructure solutions group for @Dell EMC, is joining CenturyLink as the carrier's executive vice president of marketing. @Shaun Andrews has been named executive vice president, product management for CenturyLink, having most recently served as senior vice president, IP and real-time communications for Level 3. Chand and Andrews will report to CenturyLink President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Storey. [Related: DeLozier, Gee To Split Channel Chief Responsibilities For CenturyLink When Level 3 Acquisition Closes] Prior to the close of CenturyLink's Level 3 acquisition, the carrier made a slew of leadership changes. For one, Storey, who formerly led Level 3 as CEO, will step in as CenturyLink's CEO following the retirement of current Chairman and CEO Glen Post in January 2019.  In September, John DeLozier, CenturyLink's vice president of the Channel Alliance program, told CRN that at he would be splitting the role of channel chief with Level 3's vice president of indirect sales, Garrett Gee, at the start of 2018. [Sponsored Suggested Post: IoTConnex Virtual Conference On Demand Discover new IoT research and insights. Hear solution provider success stories. Find your IoT opportunity.] DeLozier is now serving as vice president, indirect strategic partnerships and alliances for CenturyLink. DeLozier is responsible for the company's top 25 strategic partners globally, which includes its community of master agent partners. Gee is now responsible for execution in the field, including sales within CenturyLink's territories. CenturyLink in June also named the presidents of each of the five business units that make up the new company, which included a mix of Level 3 and existing CenturyLink executives. In his new role with CenturyLink, Chand is responsible for marketing strategy, marketing communications, brand and customer experience. He's also being tasked with development of the company's digital transformation strategy and the company's digital interaction with customers, including buying services, obtaining support and using automated services for provisioning, according to the Monroe, La.-based carrier. Andrews, a telecom veteran with more than two decades of experience, will focus on CenturyLink's go-to market strategy, pricing, product management and product marketing. Before his role with Level 3, Andrews held several senior-level product and business development and management roles with business communications provider IntelePeer, WilTel Communications before it was bought by Level 3, and SBC Communications before it became AT&T. CenturyLink's Level 3 deal has made the combined carrier the second largest fiber provider in the U.S. following AT&T. CenturyLink today reaches over 350 metropolitan areas with more than 100,000 fiber-lit buildings. Moving forward this year, the combined company expects to earn about 75 percent of its core revenue from enterprise customers

http://www.crn.com/news/networking/300097306/centurylink-appoints-former-dell-emc-level-3-execs-to-head-up-marketing-product-management.htm

New Services Roundup: CenturyLink, Level 3, TBI, More

Perhaps you’ve heard of some of them: #CenturyLink, #Level3, #Telarus, #Windstream, #DellEMC and #VMware, just to name a few. They run the gamut, from big telco providers, to master agents and distributors, to the giants of IT. They’re all here. Software-defined networking continues to be a hot technology, evidenced by multiple companies announcing new SD-WAN services. What follows are the channel’s hottest new products and services, as well as those being offered to certain groups of partners for the first time. Scroll down and click on the arrows on the pictures to advance through the gallery! You’ll want to keep up with the latest in technology and find services that could make you more money. Miss last month’s new services roundup?
Dell EMC

#DellEMC expanded its portfolio of #VDI Complete Solutions: the #Latitude5280 — its latest mobile #thinclient; and #NVIDIA virtual #GPU options. The vendor also announced advances in #VxRail Appliances and #VxRack #SDDC Systems; Dell EMC Enterprise #HybridCloud and Native Hybrid Cloud turnkey platforms; and new #VMware Ready Systems. 

#CenturyLink CenturyLink enhanced its #privatecloud service, which now combines a large-scale, interconnected network with VMware Cloud Foundation and #HewlettPackardEnterprise ( #HPE ) server technology for #hyperconvergedinfrastructure. CenturyLink Dedicated Cloud Compute ( #DCC ) Foundation is an updated architecture moving to a converged, software-defined data center model aimed at helping businesses lower their total cost of ownership, deliver advanced security and simplify their operations.

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Reports Say CenturyLink And Level 3 Are Close To A Merger, Partners Approve

Telecom providers #CenturyLink and #Level3 Communications are reportedly in talks to join forces, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. A possible merger would combine Level 3's robust fiber footprint, with CenturyLink's networking, cloud and software-defined networking ( #SDN ) expertise, partners say. While terms of the reported deal are unknown, a merger could be announced in the coming weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The potential CenturyLink/Level 3 merger comes at a time in which many traditional telecom providers are trying to reinvent themselves in order to stay relevant and bring more value to their customers, said Michael Bremmer, CEO of Moreno Valley, California-based TelecomQuotes.com, a telecom consultancy.

"The problem is, these carriers don't know what they want to be when they grow up," Bremmer said.

Level 3's far-flung fiber infrastructure expands more than 100,000 fiber miles in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Its footprint also includes 30,000 metro route miles and 35,000 subsea route miles. CenturyLink, a service provider with a smaller backbone, has a robust portfolio of cloud, hosting and SDN services that could be expanded to more customers if the two companies come together, partners say.

Carrier Access, Inc., a Des Moines, Iowa-based solution provider and CenturyLink Premier Partner believes that a merger between the two companies would be welcome to the market, said Shane Stark, director of vendor and channel relations for Carrier Access.

CenturyLink and Level 3 have a lot of synergies, Stark said.

"From a partner standpoint, it's a great thing to see two companies that have been partner-friendly come together. I think it would be a fantastic fit, " he said.

A CenturyLink/Level 3 combination will help both companies offer more valuable services to the market, TelecomQuotes' Bremmer added.

http://m.crn.com/news/networking/300082625/reports-say-centurylink-and-level-3-are-close-to-a-merger-partners-approve.htm